What do you get when you cross a couple of comic book guys with a great idea for juvenile fiction? You get the latest series based book craze that'll keep the kids reading, the Abadazad series.Before the Abadazad series found its way to book format, it had a cult following as a comic book in the comic book world. The comic that told the story of 14-year-old Kate and her search for Matty, her missing little brother who is trapped in a world with a queen with three eyes and a dream thief.
The publishers of the original comic book—CrossGen—went bankrupt and the Abadazad saga came to an end. But that ending didn't last long! Disney Publishing brought Abadazad back to life. The first two books in the series—The Road to Inconceivable and The Dream Thief—cover the original story told in the comic, but in book form.
The new Abadazad book series stays true to the original vision of the writer/artist team, D.C. Comics' J.M. DeMatteis and Shrek illustrator Mike Ploog. The first book in this series, The Road to Inconceivable, opens with Kate trying to come to terms with the disappearance of her little brother, Matty. After 5 years she still misses him, and her relationship with her mother offers no comfort. Just when Kate's about to accept that she will never see him again, meets the neighbor across the hall who has some strange stories and and "artifacts" from a mysterious world called Abadazad. After The death of her neighbor Kate receives a strange package which contains a glowing crystal ball. This ball then stransports her to Abadazad, where she finds out that her brother is being held captive. Now Kate has to make a brave choice: Risk everything she's ever known to try and find him or ... For Kate, there is no "or." The choice is easy. What follows is anything but.
I will tell you that the ages listed on the book are for 9 to 14...but since there is no time in Abadazad, I recommend you read it with your kids. I thought it was a great read. In fact, I could not put this book down and read it in one night. Now where is book 2.
To know the book it is great to know the author and illustrator. At least in this case. I'm a huge comic books fan and J.M. DeMatteis has worked on my favorite, Spider-Man, so I was drawn (pardon the pun) to this book.
Eisner Award winner J.M. DeMatteis was a professional musician and rock music journalist before entering the comic book field. He has extensive experience writing comic books where his work has won both popular and critical acclaim. His projects have ranged from Spider-Man and Superman to The Justice League. He has also received great acclaim for his groundbreaking personal visions, such as Moonshadow, Seekers Into the Mystery and the autobiographical Brooklyn Dreams. He lives with his family in upstate New York.
Mike Ploog has created art for a wide variety of comics, books and movies. He began drawing for Marvel, where he was involved in many of their best-known titles and cult favorites such as Ghost Rider, Werewolf by Night and Man-Thing. He was a designer and storyboard artist on dozens of major motion pictures—both animated and live-action—including Shrek, The Lord of the Rings, Disney's The Black Cauldron and Little Shop of Horrors. He lives and works in Devon, England.
Books #1 and #2, The Road to Inconceivable and The Dream Thief, are the first two books in this series. Book #3: The Puppet, the Professor, and the Prophet will be available March 2007. Book #4: Historcery will be available Summer 2007.
Check out their cool website abadazad.com
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